Russia Proposes Nuclear Spaceship
CBS News

Russia laid out its ambition to gain an edge in the space race by building a nuclear-powered spaceship. Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov told a government meeting that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012. He said it would then take nine years and 17 billion rubles ($600 million) to build the ship.
At the meeting on new communications and space technologies, televised live, President Dmitry Medvedev hailed the plan and ordered the Cabinet to find the money for it. But the stated ambition contrasted with slow progress on building a replacement to the mainstay Russian spacecraft, sounding more like a plea for extra government cash than a detailed proposal.
“It’s a very serious project,” said Medvedev. “We need to find the money.”